SEC Charges Pharma CFO and Former Partner with Insider Trading

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged the former Chief Financial Officer of pharmaceutical company Immunomedics, Inc. and his former romantic partner with insider trading in the company’s stock. According to the SEC’s complaint, while serving as CFO of Immunomedics, Usama Malik learned that the FDA had permitted the company to halt a clinical trial for a breast cancer drug because the existing trial data provided compelling evidence that the drug was effective. The complaint alleges that Malik – who was subject to a trading “black-out” that prohibited him and anyone living in his household from purchasing Immunomedics stock – immediately tipped Lauren S. Wood, with whom he lived at the time, as well as three family members.